Effects of thymalin on blood coagulation and contents of proinflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokines in patients with burns

The authors share their experiences with treatment of 32 patients with burns of the III-IV degrees using an immunomodulator Thymalin which promoted liquidation of the syndrome of disseminated intravascular coagulation, normalization of fibrinolysis, influenced the content of pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory cytokins. It allowed to shorten the terms of the first autodermoplasty at an average by 5 days and to make staying of burned patients at the hospital 11 days shorter.     

Longitudinal MR assessment of hypoxic ischemic injury in the immature rat brain

Extremely preterm infants commonly show brain injury with long‐term structural and functional consequences. Three‐day‐old (P3) rat pups share some similarities in terms of cerebral development with the very preterm infant (born at 24–28 weeks of gestation). The aim of this study was to assess longitudinally the cerebral structural and metabolic changes resulting from a moderate neonatal hypoxic ischemic injury in the P3 rat pup using high‐field (9.4 T) MRI and localized ¹H magnetic resonance spectroscopy techniques. The rats were scanned longitudinally at P3, P4, P11, and P25. Volumetric measurements showed that the percentage of cortical loss in the long term correlated with size of damage 6 h after hypoxia–ischemia, male pups being more affected than female. The neurochemical profiles revealed an acute decrease of most of metabolite concentrations and an increase in lactate 24 h after hypoxia–ischemia, followed by a recovery phase leading to minor metabolic changes at P25 in spite of an abnormal brain development. Further, the increase of lactate concentration at P4 correlated with the cortical loss at P25, giving insight into the early prediction of long‐term cerebral alterations following a moderate hypoxia–ischemia insult that could be of interest in clinical practice. Magn Reson Med, 2011. © 2010 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

Giant cell tumor of bone: radiographic changes following local excision and allograft replacement

The authors retrospectively evaluated the clinical records and radiographs obtained from 41 patients who had giant cell tumor of bone and who were treated by local resection and allograft replacement. Postoperative complications developed in 41% of the patients. However, the eventual clinical outcome was considered to be satisfactory in 85% of all cases. There were no instances of tumor recurrence, and surprisingly, postoperative arthritis was not a major problem. The major complications encountered were infection and allograft fracture; bone infection accounted for most of the clinical failures. All infections were associated with the increasing soft-tissue swelling and bone resorption detected on radiographic studies. Other radiographic parameters that were associated with an increased rate of complications included osteopenia, increased periosteal reaction, and decreased bone formation at the host-donor junction site. The clinical outcome was distinctly less favorable in those cases in which the patient had had a pathologic fracture or a previous resection, or in whom the graft was implanted at the distal radius.     

Hormonal changes during puberty: V. Transient pubertal gynecomastia: abnormal androgen-estrogen ratios

The plasma profiles of 8 hormones were followed over the course of prepuberty and puberty in 30 adolescent males who developed gynecomastia and 24 who did not. Throughout puberty, ratios of delta 4-androstenedione to estrone (E1) and estradiol (E2) were significantly lower in the gynecomastia group than in the control group. Similarly, ratios of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate to E1 and E2 were significantly lower in the gynecomastia group. In contrast, ratios of plasma testosterone to E1 and E2 as well as plasma progesterone and PRL concentrations, were similar in both groups. Because of the adrenal origin of dehydroepiandrosterone and its sulfate, and of peripheral conversion of adrenal androgens to E1 and to E2, it appears that either decreased adrenal production of androgens and/or increased conversion of dehydroepiandrosterone-sulfate and delta 4-androstenedione to estrogens cause transient gynecomastia in adolescent boys.